Migration To The Us From Germany
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Migration from Easter Europe, 1881-1924
A shift was occurring in 1880 where a mass migration of Jews was leaving Europe for America. High birthrates and restrictive living in Russia contributed to this exodus. Similar hard conditions prompted Jews in Hungary and Romania to leave their lands in equal proportions. Industrialization made it difficult for Jews with simple professions in labor to keep their jobs. It was at this time that legal violence became incorporated into law, like the May Laws and pogroms. Pogroms were forcing Jews to leave Europe in large numbers, with a height of 152,000 in 1906 which made up 14% of the immigrants for that year.
Data shows that the majority of these immigrants were young; typically a skilled male worker would pave the way for his family to follow. Only 5% of Jews returned to their land of emigration compared to 33% overall. Most were skilled workers, besides Russians who were mostly in clothing. Russians would sometimes go through Europe to ports for America like Amsterdam. America had organizations set up to help new immigrants, like the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in New York. German Jews established residence in San Francisco and Cincinnati, while Russians flocked to New York. New York would grow to become the largest city of Jews, with 45% of Jews in America living there by 1920. Jews were making up a growing percentage of their new cities’ populations, about 10% on average. Jews lived in ethnic enclaves, the most famous being the Lower East Side of New York. 540,000 Jews would live in dense conditions, usually with four people sharing a room. Blocks held the workshops of its various tenements such as basement synagogues, garment traders, and cafes.
Crime was a concern. Different Jewish personalities extracted money from shop keepers in exchange for their “protection”. Organizations were started to curb crime among its people. These criminals would branch out from among their Jewish peers to the general population.
Fellow townsmen formed landsleit, which were associations that helped immigrants with mutual aid. Insurance and health benefits were two of the services the landsleit provided. Fraternal orders were established to help members of similar background, like Sephardim or Poles. Immigrants’ immediate needs were jobs. Russians were in clothing; others developed specialties. They worked long hours. Other jobs were in tobacco and butchery, but clothing made up the majority of trades in multiple cities for Germans and Russians. Women would work until they were married. Russians aimed to go from shopkeeper to manufacturer with a hope of wealth. Real Estate provided opportunity to those Jews with capital.
Whereas the majority of Jews came practicing Orthodoxy, many reacted to new freedom and economic needs to abandon some Jewish customs, like the Sabbath. A large reason for the religious abandonment was the lesser role of the rabbi in America, who had been a central figure in Europe. Some synagogues were successful in establishing constituencies.
Through the help of their lay leaders, they had top rabbis and furthered education. In Europe a religious heder taught children religious studies – the bible and its commentaries. According to a survey in 1910, the heder’s presence was waning in America. Emphasis on the need to do well socially and materially led most to emphasize their children’s public school teaching over their tradition’s teachings. Only two Talmudic academies existed and they were both in New York. As Talmudic academies became better regarded, more children were sent to them as after-school activities. Wealthy Jews moved out of the ghettos to establish progressively social and modern synagogues. Even though religion was lessening, children were taught the basics, and shuls were overflowing on High Holy Days.
Socialism and Zionism were ideas that came from Europe, and Yiddish papers would share them and become cultural references. Poets described their difficult sweatshop work in Yiddish, while others spoke of immigration in English to a broader American audience. Yiddish theatres were in cities across America, catering to all tastes and interests.
Immigrants developed a trade-union movement. 20,000 women went on strike in the garment industry, starting the union movement. Many came to their aid when they were beaten and underpaid. After the uprising incident, settlements between sides were developed with better conditions for workers including a maximum fifty hour work week. Union leaders expected Jewish business owners to be reasonable as they were the support of a continuing influx of new residents. Unions for women, clothing, and other smaller sectors were formed that negotiated conditions and productivity improvements. Socialist ideals were brought from Europe, and Russians considered unions to be under socialist influences were. Even though few union members belonged to socialist parties, those that did took great pride in their members achieving prominence; a socialist lawyer Meyer London was even elected to congress. The Jewish Daily Forward was one of many Yiddish newspapers that spread radical ideas and interpreted national news to the Yiddish-speaking immigrant.
Union leaders saw internal fighting as negatively affecting assimilation. But unity was apparent. Striking unions asked the community for support. Labor movements supported European Jewry financially during World War I. Despite the Zionist movement’s small numbers, its impact was profound, as Jews sought a place to unite Jews in the face of assimilation. The Jewish middle class saw the Russian flood of immigration as a threat to their status and a burden on their resources. Leaders of charities would criticize these middle class Jews as well as socialist radicals.
Anti-Semitism